Caduceus as a symbol of medicine

{{Short description|Misunderstanding of the symbol of Hermes}}

{{Short description|Misunderstanding of the symbol of Hermes}}

[[File:US Army Medical Corps Branch Plaque.gif|thumb |The [[Medical Corps (United States Army)|US Army Medical Corps]] Branch Plaque. The adoption, in 1902, of the caduceus for US Army medical officer uniforms, popularized use of the symbol in the medical field in the United States.]]<!-- Size can't be increased due to restriction on fair use -->

[[File:US Army Medical Corps Branch Plaque.gif|thumb |The [[Medical Corps (United States Army)|US Army Medical Corps]] Branch Plaque. The adoption, in 1902, of the caduceus for US Army medical officer uniforms, popularized use of the symbol in the medical field in the United States.]]<!-- Size can't be increased due to restriction on fair use -->

The [[caduceus]] is the traditional symbol of [[Hermes]] and features two snakes winding around an often winged staff. Ancient sources associate Hermes with a variety of attributes, including wisdom, trade, deception, thievery, eloquence, negotiation, and [[alchemy]].<ref name="Powell">{{Cite book|last=Powell|first=Barry B.|title=Classical Myth|publisher=Pearson|year=2015|isbn=978-0-321-96704-6|edition=8th|location=Boston|pages=177–190}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Hermes the Thief: The Evolution of a Myth |first=Norman Oliver |last=Brown |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BzNfeQSXKfcC&pg=PA3 3] |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |date=1947}}</ref> It is often used as a symbol of medicine, especially in the United States.

The [[caduceus]] is the traditional symbol of [[Hermes]] and features two snakes winding around an often winged staff. Ancient sources associate Hermes with a variety of attributes, including wisdom, trade, deception, thievery, eloquence, negotiation, and [[alchemy]].<ref name="Powell">{{Cite book|last=Powell|first=Barry B.|title=Classical Myth|publisher=Pearson|year=2015|isbn=978-0-321-96704-6|edition=8th|location=Boston|pages=177–190}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Hermes the Thief: The Evolution of a Myth |first=Norman Oliver |last=Brown |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BzNfeQSXKfcC&pg=PA3 3] |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |date=1947}}</ref> Nevertheless it is often used as a symbol of medicine, especially in the United States.

The modern use of the '''caduceus as a symbol of medicine''' became established in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century as a result of well-documented mistakes and misunderstandings of [[symbology]] and classical culture.<ref name=friedlander>{{cite book|first=Walter J|last=Friedlander|title=The Golden Wand of Medicine: A History of the Caduceus Symbol in Medicine|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=1992|isbn=0-313-28023-1|oclc=24246627}}</ref><ref name="tyson">{{cite journal |last=Tyson |first=Stuart L. |date=June 1932 |title=The Caduceus |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/15207 |journal=The Scientific Monthly |volume=34 |issue=6 |pages=492–498 |bibcode=1932SciMo..34..492T}}</ref><ref name=engle>{{cite journal|first=Bernice|last=Engle|title=The Use of Mercury's Caduceus as a Medical Emblem|journal=The Classical Journal|volume=25|issue=3|date=December 1929}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=The Journal of the American Medical Association|volume=245|year=1981|page=1730|title=Knots|first=M T|last=Cooper|doi=10.1001/jama.1981.03310420020013|issue=17}}</ref><ref name="AIM">{{cite journal|last=Wilcox|first=Robert A|author2=Whitham, Emma M|title=The symbol of modern medicine: why one snake is more than two|date=15 April 2003|journal=Annals of Internal Medicine|pmid=12693891|volume=138|issue=8|pages=673–7|doi=10.7326/0003-4819-138-8-200304150-00016|s2cid=19125435}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=William S.|last=Haubrich|title=Medical meanings: a glossary of word origins|publisher=American College of Physicians|year=2003|page=37|isbn=0-943126-56-8|quote=By some misconception, the caduceus became the insignia of the U.S. Army Medical Corps. The conventional symbol of medicine is the [[staff of Aesculapius]], which is a coarse rod entwined by a single serpent.}}</ref> Critics of this practice say that the correct symbol for medicine is the [[Rod of Asclepius]], which has only one snake and no wings.<ref name="AIM"/>

The modern use of the '''caduceus as a symbol of medicine''' became established in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century as a result of well-documented mistakes and misunderstandings of [[symbology]] and classical culture.<ref name=friedlander>{{cite book|first=Walter J|last=Friedlander|title=The Golden Wand of Medicine: A History of the Caduceus Symbol in Medicine|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=1992|isbn=0-313-28023-1|oclc=24246627}}</ref><ref name="tyson">{{cite journal |last=Tyson |first=Stuart L. |date=June 1932 |title=The Caduceus |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/15207 |journal=The Scientific Monthly |volume=34 |issue=6 |pages=492–498 |bibcode=1932SciMo..34..492T}}</ref><ref name=engle>{{cite journal|first=Bernice|last=Engle|title=The Use of Mercury's Caduceus as a Medical Emblem|journal=The Classical Journal|volume=25|issue=3|date=December 1929}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=The Journal of the American Medical Association|volume=245|year=1981|page=1730|title=Knots|first=M T|last=Cooper|doi=10.1001/jama.1981.03310420020013|issue=17}}</ref><ref name="AIM">{{cite journal|last=Wilcox|first=Robert A|author2=Whitham, Emma M|title=The symbol of modern medicine: why one snake is more than two|date=15 April 2003|journal=Annals of Internal Medicine|pmid=12693891|volume=138|issue=8|pages=673–7|doi=10.7326/0003-4819-138-8-200304150-00016|s2cid=19125435}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=William S.|last=Haubrich|title=Medical meanings: a glossary of word origins|publisher=American College of Physicians|year=2003|page=37|isbn=0-943126-56-8|quote=By some misconception, the caduceus became the insignia of the U.S. Army Medical Corps. The conventional symbol of medicine is the [[staff of Aesculapius]], which is a coarse rod entwined by a single serpent.}}</ref> Critics of this practice say that the correct symbol for medicine is the [[Rod of Asclepius]], which has only one snake and no wings.<ref name="AIM"/>